OpenSSL Communities

🛠️ Technical Advisory Committee — Academics Seat Election

Election CommitteeElection Committee Mon 2 Feb 2026 10:59AMPublicSeen by 25

The election for the Academics seat on the OpenSSL Corporation Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is now open.

The TAC strengthens our technical governance by ensuring that the OpenSSL Project's development priorities and technical directions reflect the needs, insights, and expertise of the broader community, in alignment with the OpenSSL Mission.

Election period: February 2–20, 2026 (UTC)
Result announced: February 23, 2026 (UTC)

Voting model

  • This is an open election: votes are visible to participants.

  • Votes may be changed at any time until the close of voting.

  • Quorum requirement: participation of at least 15% of eligible delegates is required for the election to be valid.

  • Voting eligibility: one vote per institution.

  • Each institution is represented by a single designated delegate.

  • To change a designated delegate, please contact the Election Committee.

Term

  • Commences: March 1, 2026 (UTC)

  • Duration: 2 years

This thread is used for the election and any related procedural questions.

Election Committee

🛠️ Technical Advisory Committee — Academics Seat Election

poll by Election Committee Closed Sat 21 Feb 2026 12:00AM

Outcome
by Election Committee Sat 21 Feb 2026 3:03AM

The election for the Academics seat on the OpenSSL Corporation Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) closed on February 20, 2026 (UTC).

Participation reached 26%, with 5 of 19 eligible institutions casting a vote. The quorum requirement of 15% was met and the election is valid.

Results:

  • Nikolas Gauder, Technical University of Munich — 100% (5 votes)

  • None of the above — 0% (0 votes)

Nikolas Gauder is therefore elected to the Academics seat on the TAC. His term will commence on March 1, 2026 (UTC) and will run for two years.

Thank you to all participating delegates for their engagement in this process.

Results

ResultsOption% of pointsVoters
Nikolas Gauder, Technical University of Munich1005Nicola TuveriShankarShubham KumarKeith Takunda ChatsaukaBilly Brumley
None of the above00 
Undecided14Vashek MatyasDouglas StebilaDavid GouldUri BlumenthalSandip DholakiaSamLakshya ChopraNicky MouhaAlberto Blanco-JusticiaNikolas GauderAbby ZakPeter GutmannStephen FarrellMatthias Kannwischer

5 of 19 votes cast (26% participation)

Election Committee

Election CommitteeMon 2 Feb 2026 11:05AM

Nominee: Nikolas Gauder, Technical University of Munich

Statement

As a Master's student in Informatics at the Technical University of Munich, focusing on IT security, networking, and applied cryptography, I have worked with OpenSSL's QUIC stack in the past, contributed code, and was an OpenSSL Foundation scholarship recipient for the OpenSSL Conference 2025. I am eager to engage further with the community and give back by providing my experience and perspective to the Technical Advisory Committee.

If selected for the Advisory, I plan to represent the perspectives of students as well as researchers who rely on OpenSSL for secure systems and experimental research. My goal is to contribute constructive feedback, advocate for the community's needs, and support the long-term sustainability of the OpenSSL project.

I believe I would be a valuable addition to the Corporation’s TAC because I bring hands-on experience, a fresh early-career perspective, and a strong commitment to bridging the gap between academic research, open-source development, and industry adoption.